Tour our boutique micro distillery and learn about the mysterious and creative aspects of fermenting, distilling and aging fine spirits. Our up close and personal tour with the distiller will give you insight and understanding of the distilling process and what goes into every dram of handcrafted spirit. On most days you will see a brandy, grappa or eau di vie flowing from our custom made artisanal still or observe our hands-on production operation. Think Willy Wonka meets Jules Verne.

Taste our award winning, small batch, hand crafted artisanal Spirits right at the source, our Distillery. Our tasting bar and Indigenous Spirits Lab is an intimate location to explore the aromas, flavors, textures and feelings of our craft spirits. Whether you are a novice or aficionado, we will guide you through an insightful tasting to help you better appreciate and understand artisanal spirits. Our daily selection of handcrafted spirits changes based on what we are distilling. Some of our products are seasonal or small batches that are only experienced and sold at the distillery.

Discover something spirited in the Heart of Sonoma Valley. We offer a unique wine country experience for groups of all sizes from educational tours and tastings to hands-on team building workshops and private events. Discover what separates our wine country inspired craft spirits from the mass produced brands in Sonoma’s first and only operating distillery since Prohibition.

Visit Our Distillery is located in the heart of Sonoma Valley at 21877 8th Street East, Sonoma CA 95476. We are minutes away from the historic plaza, fabulous hotels and restaurants and not to mention hundreds of amazing wineries.

To make the most of your experience and time, please contact us to schedule an appointment.

It’s all set up in a 2,000-square-foot warehouse in Sonoma where bottles of alcoholic “cellos” infused with lemons, oranges and figs, along with Hooker’s House Bourbon, line the bar.

Want to see how it’s made? Fred pulls the lid off a tank where hundreds of lemon rinds soak in brandy sourced from local grapes. The aroma is sweet and tart.

It’s also about as close as you’re going to get to sampling the wares. Unlike vintners and brewers, California distillers are prohibited from letting the public sample their products under a Prohibition-era law that critics say is outdated and unfair.

“It would be nice to share our story with the general public,” Amy Groth said Thursday. “We like to say we put the spirit in Sonoma.”

HelloCello, the company the Groths founded in 2008, is among three distillers in Sonoma County, and 30 statewide, that have banded together to change the law so they can offer public tastings and sell their products at the distilleries.

The group, calling itself the California Artisanal Distillers Guild, is in the process of retaining the Sacramento lobbying firm of DiMare, Van Vleck and Brown to represent its interests.

Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, intends to introduce legislation on the group’s behalf, said Dominic DiMare, a principal with the lobbying firm, which also represents Safeway, Best Buy and Mattel, among others.

Standing in the way of distillers is the powerful alcohol wholesale and distribution lobby and public attitudes about the hard stuff.

Despite a resurgence in the popularity of bygone booze-bombs such as Manhattans, a trend juiced by TV shows such as “Mad Men,” there still are those who view whiskey and the like as devil’s water, and cringe at the idea of having it sampled like merlot.

Asked about fears that the changes he is seeking will put more drunken drivers on the road, Fred Groth replied, “When a cop pulls you over, do they ask you if you’ve been drinking wine, beer or vodka? They ask you if you’ve been drinking.”

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Prohibition Spirits (HelloCello) is excited to announce the release of their three new wine country inspired Sugar Daddy Rums. Sugar Daddy Rums honor local sugar baron Adolf Spreckels the original “Sugar Daddy”. Each of our Sugar Daddy Rums are a result of sourcing the finest Caribbean rums and aging it in high quality barrels at our distiller here in Sonoma, California Valley. This process of aging rum is called early landing and produces new variations of classic rum styles that are influenced locally. The combination of fine rums aged locally in wine barrels offers the consumer a new view on what aged rums can be. www.prohibition-spirits.com

The Story
Sugar Daddy Sonoma Sugar Baron Style Rums honor Adolf Spreckels, a sugar baron, industrial tycoon, Sonoma resident and the original Sugar Daddy. The older sugar baron married the beautiful Alma May who was more than half his age and was quickly propelled into the social spotlight. She was heard calling out for her “Sugar Daddy” at their Sonoma mansion (Sobra Vista) while roaming their estate with a cocktail in hand. We have scoured the Caribbean in search of exciting sugar cane rums that would meet the Sugar Baron’s exquisite taste and brought them to Sonoma to age in our fantastic climate in quality French Oak wine barrels. The Sugar Barron lives on in Sugar Daddy Rum.

About the RumsSugar Daddy Light Rum: is a light Jamaican pot still rum that is brought to Sonoma to mature in large puncheon barrels which previously stored Carneros Chardonnay. Our Sugar Daddy Light Rum has rich flavors of banana, coconut and pineapple which are typical of this style of rum. The Rum is aged for over a year in puncheons which gives it a soft but powerful elegance for light rum. The barrels add an additional tropical bouquet of flavors that suggest citrus, pear and floral that takes on a lightly straw blonde color. The marriage of the Jamaican rum with the crisp Carneros Chardonnay is a brilliant match that creates a stand-alone rum in a class by itself. Sugar Daddy aged light rum is perfect for sipping or in your favorite rum based cocktails.

Sugar Daddy Amber Rum is a more robust Jamaican pot still rum that aggressively matured in Chardonnay barrels at our distillery in Sonoma, California. This medium body rum is rich in exotic island flavors of mango, banana, papaya and pineapple. The heavier charred French Oak Chardonnay barrels provide subtle influences of caramel, vanilla and buttery oak. Our Amber Rum has a strong Jamaican Rum foundation with the nuances obtained from French Oak Chardonnay barrels built on top. This is a very versatile rum with rich flavors and a beautiful amber color. It is perfect for traditional Tiki and island cocktails and can stand up to sweeter mixes or can be enjoyed neat.

Sugar Daddy Dark Rum is intense aged rum sourced from Guyana and matured in Sonoma, California. The aged rum has a rich cornucopia of flavors including caramel, vanilla, and butterscotch with a subtle presence of cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice. Once the Rum is at our distillery we transfer it into our recently emptied Hooker’s House Bourbon barrels which housed our Bourbon for seven years. After aging for up to two additional years the dark rum takes on a new intensity from the bourbon barrels in the fluctuating Sonoma climate. The result is an iconic dark rum rich in the original Rum flavors and heightened with the flavors of the Whiskey. Intense flavors of caramel, vanilla, toffee with hints of sweet cane, wood and oak. This is fantastic sipping Rum which will be appreciated by the dark spirit aficionados.

About Us
Prohibition Spirits produces small batch, hand crafted spirits at the first and only distillery in Sonoma, California since Prohibition. Our line of Whiskeys, Rums, Vodka and Liqueurs (HelloCello) are produced and influenced locally in Sonoma. Our family owned micro distillery produces high quality spirits in small batches were you can taste the passion in every bottle.

Beach in a bottle

I am only back from the beach a few days when the craving for the hot, golden sun on my skin and soft sand beneath my feet, the smell of tropical fruit, of ocean, and coconut sunscreen — that unmistakable beachy smell — overwhelms me. The beach, this year, has somehow taken hold of me, settling deeply within my soul. A desire to be there won’t leave me alone. The more I am there, floating in the sea thick with salt, the more I look up into those rustling palms, the more I long to return. At the beach, all is forgotten with the real world.

We read, we swim, we walk, we swim again, and in between we have long, lazy conversations that the work and noise of the outside world would never allow. Mostly, though, we sip something fruity. And rum-filled. Something that, no matter the beach, always arrives in a tall, festive glass, looking heavenly and frosty, always with a hunk of fresh fruit – pineapple, or possibly lime, teetering on the rim. Beads of condensation hang slowly and then drip from the bottom of the glass, chilling my chest, my belly.

Just the smell of rum transports me to the islands; it epitomizes the carefree vibe of the beach, of summer no matter where you drink it. Rum is the ideal thirst quencher. I am sorry Wine Country, but sometimes (many times) summer situations simply call for rum.

Drinking rum in Wine Country has always felt worrisome, ordering it out, I’m afraid I might offend the winemaker more than likely sitting at the bar next to me. But thanks to the clever folks at Sonoma’s Prohibition Spirits a gal can get her tiki cocktail fix with a bit of Wine Country goodness thrown in. The team that first brought us a modern, Northern California version of the Italian liquor lemoncello, with HelloCello Lemocello di Sonoma, and then my go-to winter sipper, Hooker’s House bourbon, has now, happily, launched Sugar Daddy rums.

The rum’s cute name refers to Adolf Spreckels, a sugar baron, industrial tycoon, and long-ago Sonoma resident. The trio of rums — light, amber, and dark — were concocted in the Caribbean and then finished in true Sonoma style with aging in used wine barrels. The light rum appropriately lingers briefly in oak barrels that once matured Carneros chardonnay resulting in rich, surprisingly, tropical flavors of banana, coconut, and pineapple. The barrel adds an additional bouquet of yumminess that suggests citrus, pear, and flowers all the while adding a pretty straw blonde color.

I can’t help but crave a Mai Tai every time I glimpse the Sugar Daddy Amber rum sitting innocently atop of the little red Chinese cabinet that doubles as my cocktail bar. Its glowing, burnished hue is the result of a lengthy aging in charred French oak chardonnay barrels. This more intense caramel and vanilla-soaked rum is scrumptious simply over ice, but I am addicted to a version of the aforementioned Hawaiian cocktail heavy on the almond liquor and light on the not-from-concentrate version of Trader Joe’s pineapple juice. The very same amber rum resulted in a killer, über boozy dessert of Bananas Foster, dramatically set afire and served at a recent dinner party at my casita.

It was in Bimini, at a shanty of a bar perched at the end of a terrifyingly creaky dock the very first time I drank a dark rum and pineapple juice. Little did I know that this very drink would become my ‘beach drink’ for maybe the rest of my life. I can’t tell you what about this combination is so utterly perfect. Dark rum has these exotic hints of burnt sugar and dark honey, vanilla bean and spice. And pineapple? Fresh pineapple tastes solely of sweet honey, of lychee, of sun, and pineapple… it just tastes of the beach. I am transported to that day, on that dock, overlooking the pale, see-through sea no matter where I sip a dark rum and pineapple juice. Sugar Daddy dark rum is the ideal rum and pineapple sort of dark rum. Prohibition Spirits ages it two years in emptied Hooker’s House bourbon barrels. Dark rum perfection, Wine Country style.

This is probably the fastest, easiest and most delicious pool cocktail for summer. Combine Sugar Daddy Amber Rum and POG juice in an ice filled glass. Garnish with fruit, flowers, mint an umbrella or anything fun. Okole maluna!

Kristin Jorgensen is one of Sonoma’s most passionate, food obsessed residents. In this weekly column, she covers all the delicious happenings, foodie events and restaurants in Sonoma, the rest of Wine Country and beyond. Email her with comments, questions, or your food related events at foodandwine@sonomasun.com.

This past weekend, Mr. ROAR and I had the pleasure of staying at the Lodge at Sonoma and attend a RUM tasting. I know, sounds a bit strange – we were in the Napa Valley and tasting RUM.

The Lodge at Sonoma takes pride in introducing guests to products that are produced locally; unique brands that have a great story behind them. This night was no different. It was a Caribbean theme evening featuring Sugar Daddy Rum, which was a new brand to me. Personally, I’m a sucker for awesome packaging and fell in love with the bottle – I just knew I’d love the rum too.

Three specialty cocktails were served, Somoma’s Perfect Storm, Sugar Daddy Mai Tai and the Sugar Daddy Cucumber Mojito. I had the mojito and oh boy – it was divine!

And I enjoyed it…with my grey strippy straw! Actually, I enjoyed T.W.O! The perfect summer cocktail. Light, delicious and refreshing. I have a feeling it’s going to be around all summer.

Sugar Daddy Cucumber Mojito Recipe

Ingredients:

2oz. Sugar Daddy Light Rum

1/2 oz. fresh lime juice

1oz. simple syrup

5 mint leaves

4 cucumber slivers plus extra for garnish

club soda

Instructions:

Coat the rim of your glass with lime and dip the glass into raw cane sugar. Then muddle mint, add ice, lemon juice, Sugar Daddy Light Rum, simple syrup and cucumber. Top with club soda and stir carefully.

Color me a bit of a skeptic. Hooker’s House label declares these whiskeys as “Sonoma Style,” as in the California wine country. Where they do not make whiskey. Right? Heck, HelloCello (aka Prohibition Spirits) — best known for its artisanal lemoncello (and other flavors) — makes this whiskey. What on earth do these guys know about Bourbon? How good could it possibly be?

Plenty. And pretty good, it turns out.

Named after a Civil War veteran, Joseph Hooker, who lived in Sonoma, these whiskeys are not actually distilled in California (the company cites only “Bourbon-belt” production; I’m presuming they are born at LDI like pretty much everything else on the market). But Hooker’s House Bourbon and Rye, like many of my favorite craft whiskeys, are decidedly non-traditional spirits: Both are finished in (different) wine barrels that have been retired from local wineries.

That, I guess, it was “Sonoma Style” is all about. And you can count me a full-on convert.

Thoughts on both of these whiskeys follow.

Hooker’s House Bourbon – This is six-year-old, single-barrel Bourbon that is finished in Pinot Noir barrels and brought down to 100 proof with Sonoma spring water. The mashbill is a hefty 46% rye. Lots of wood on the nose doesn’t let on to too many secrets, but breathe deep and you get those rich, winey flavors — a few raisins and big cherry notes. Take a sip and it all comes together. Fantastic, thick body. Beautiful fruit, that cherry character really gets pumped up as you drink it. Combining with the deep vanilla from the Bourbon, the Pinot finish gives this whiskey the character of a Cherry Coke, complete with cinnamon and nutmeg notes on the finish. Perfectly drinkable neat even at 100 proof, this is an amazing Bourbon with a unique and lively character that I highly recommend. Excellent bargain. A / $36

Hooker’s House Rye – Made from a mashbill of 95% rye, Hooker’s House Rye doesn’t indicate its age, but is likely quite a bit younger than the Bourbon. (Bulleit’s 95% rye is about 5 years old.) For a twist, the Rye is finished not in Pinot barrels but in Old Vine Zinfandel barrels — two spicy treats that should go well together. They do, but not perhaps to the degree of mastery that the Bourbon offers. The nose is curious, giving up anise and fresh, toasty wood notes. The body’s a different animal: Surprisingly light and fresh, there is a clear grain character along with some evergreen notes. The whiskey is more in line with many of the modern ryes that have come out lately — surprisingly mild, easygoing, and backed up with a touch of baking spice. The wine influence is harder to spot here than with the Bourbon; there’s just a hint of raisin character on the finish. It’s a solid rye, but ultimately this whiskey is driven more by raw grain flavors — which come on really strong at the conclusion — than I’d like. 94 proof. B / $36